Thread by @MA_Palladino

Months of lockdown, full time work,homeschooling,trauma & grief hearing stories from #italy and waiting for #covid to hit UK.After over 40k & lies/spin the country re-opens. #masks are still an option for most people and the prospect of the autumn/winter is terrifying 1/

#Covid is still very much here. This is time for research now (for those of us in academia), time for school holidays, time to rest. This is also time for me to return to Italy, to my missed #cilento to see #family to heal months of separation 2/

Instead, we are so exhausted that the longed for #writing projects seem overbearing, that the creative activities planned for your child seem like a chore, and the longed for trips out of your neighbourhood/town are now undesirable - I don’t want to confront 3/

the reality of a country which has not controlled #Covid yet but opens itself up to normality. Here, I see normalising death and illness by an unknown virus rather than normalising #masks and responsible global health measures. 4/

I watch my home country #Italy slowly waking up from a tragic few months during which even the least unappealing political fringes have shown responsibility in the face of #Covid. Italy is/has not been perfect in this storm,but throughout its people felt cared for 5/

I sit here and think about the risks and perils of travelling,of the far shores of my sea,of the responsibility we have to reduce movement across borders,of my mother’s cautious questions about my returning home,of the prickly pears orchard of nonna’s deserted land 6/

I grapple with homesickness, fear and hope - I try to train myself to the idea that now we need to learn to live with #risk, to assess its levels.and yet I am fortunate,we didn’t catch #Covid, I live in a green place which offered solace in lockdown 7/

My child asks about i #nonni and weather the virus is gone.he asks the question every day. He has internalised the virus as a separating force and lectures his toys about #Covid when they ‘gather’ too close. 8/

I still have to find the language to explain uncertain time till he can see #family again,find the words which shy away from the “two more sleeps” time-counting he’s used too.#covid pushes us to new limits of language and love. New metaphors of time 9/

And so if driving from the midlands to the south of Italy seems like a dream &adventure,in a flash it turns into irresponsible citizenship and parenting.summer slowly slips away and my dreams of home turn dark.to any of u with family across borders, let’s talk.10